THE ALLEGED POISONING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1130, 27 October 1893, Page 13

THE ALLEGED POISONING.

BLAKE'S DEPOSITIONS. As the condition of James Blake, whose wife is in custody on a charge of attempting to poison him, has not improved, the authorities yesterday week considered it advisable to take his depositions. Accordingly at 3 p.m. Mr Martin, R.M., accompanied by Inspector Pender, Chief-Detective Campbell, Detective Ede and Mr W. James, clerk of the Resident Magistrate's Court, proceeded to the hospital, where Blake is lying in No. 2 ward. The prisoner, Mrs Blake, was also present, accompanied by Mr G-ould, her solicitor.

Blake, who appeared to be very weak, but in a state of remarkable mental activity, said that he first went into the hospital about ten weeks ago for stricture; he came out on the 4th September and had been in there six weeks. He brought some medicine out with him, and with the exception of that given him by medical men he had used no other medicine since that time. Many months ago he used some mercurial ointment for stricture, but had not used any of it for about six months. About a fortnight ago last Saturday he felt a kind of sickness after taking some porridge, which at the time he thought might have been caused by eating too much porridge. ■%le felt sick and giddy, and suffered from diarrhoea, sometimes passing blood. At the same time a nasty taste, very bitter and disagreeable, came into his mouth. He felt sick on Saturday evening fortnight after taking some porridge, and again on the Sunday evening after eating some tapioca. He thought the taste proceeded from mercury. He had rubbed in the ointment many months previously. He was ordered some wine by the doctors, and on one or two occasions vomited after taking it, and also vomited after taking some milk. He never took any food or medicine from anybody but his wife. His daughter-in-law, he subsequently said, might have brought in medicine but she did not give him any food. He had not been sick since he came into the hospital. His wife and he had no squabbles beyond what might occur in other families. She was kind and attentive to him during his illness. A man named Joe Cole had been coming to the house occasionally, and Mrs Blake and he might have had some words about it, but he did not wish to accuse her of anything with him. He had no property or investments of any sort, and had not made a will. Asked by Mr Gould if he thought he would recover, Blake said: " I am in God's hands ; God's will be done." Replying to the Resident Magistrate, he said: "I expressly consent to the admission in evidence in any proceedings of all communications which n-aye-jgasged jjetweer. me fihd any medicaY'ml^ r ■£&£'' This concluded the man s evtSehce. As the party left the room Mrs Blake, who had preserved an unconcerned demeanour throughout, kissed her husband "goodbye."